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Minnesota and Wisconsin companies' technologies provide livestock management and tracking solutionNEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: NEW RICHMOND, WI -- Two Upper Midwest companies are pairing their technologies to facilitate unique animal identification and retrieval of pertinent animal health information. The joint marketing initiative pairs the RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology of Digital Angel Corporation of South St. Paul, MN, with the livestock herd-management software marketed by Herd-Pro Software, Inc. of New Richmond, WI. With the new system, livestock producers can use small RFID computer chips from Digital Angel in animals shortly after birth. Using a RFID scanning wand connected to a handheld computer (Palm OS PDA) running software from Herd-Pro Software, a producer can scan an animal’s ID chip and instantly see the complete history of the animal on the PDA. The handheld PDA is synced with the producer's desktop computer so all records on both devices are updated with the latest information. Herd-Pro Software's desktop livestock management software is called StocKeeperTM and its software for handheld PDAs is called StocKeeper CompanionTM. Dr. Fred Austin, Herd-Pro Software founder and a practicing veterinarian, says StocKeeper enables a producer to track and update a herd's medical, fertility, production and pedigree information. "Each animal retains a lifetime record on our system, even after it is culled from the herd, so it lends itself to the U.S. goal announced by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman for establishing a national livestock ID database." Digital Angel has been working in North America and globally to develop electronic products and information systems that ingrate easily into various livestock management practices. RFID tags are unique for every single animal and provide a way to automate data collection, points out Niels Fogt, Digital Angel’s Director of Sales and Marketing. This provides a livestock producer with accurate and timely information. As markets integrate RFID scanning systems into facilities, electronic tags provide trace-back accounting, a critical issue in countries with threatening disease outbreaks. Fogt says that several countries now mandate that all animals have lifetime unique ID numbers, adding that RFID is an excellent way to meet that need. Digital Angel is also working on RFID technology that, according to Fogt, will permit sending an animal's body temperature to the handheld computer running StocKeeper Companion, which can then transmit an instant warning that an animal may be sick. A major hurdle for establishing a national livestock database is agreeing on a hardware/software combination that offers standard data formats across livestock species and industries. An advantage of the Herd-Pro Software products, according to the company, is its capability to input and export data in a variety of formats and work with worldwide databases. Herd-Pro Software Inc. develops and distributes livestock management software that caters to the dairy, beef, and other livestock markets. More information about Herd-Pro Software is available on the company’s website, www.herd-pro.com, or by contacting the company: Herd-Pro Software, 451 Parkview Drive, New Richmond, WI 54017; email info@herd-pro.com, phone 715-246-0823, fax 715-246-3856. Digital Angel Corporation develops and deploys sensor and communications technologies that enable rapid and accurate identification, location tracking, and condition monitoring of high-value assets. More information about Digital Angel is available on the company’s website, www.digitalangelcorp.com, or by contacting the company: Digital Angel Corporation, South St, Paul, MN; email cs@digitalangelcorp.com ###
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